Genentech announced this week that the Phase III MINISTONE-2 study met its primary endpoint, demonstrating that XOFLUZA™ (baloxavir marboxil) was well-tolerated in children with the flu.
The study also showed that XOFLUZA is comparable to oseltamivir – a proven effective treatment for children with the flu – at reducing the duration of flu symptoms, including fever. The study assessed XOFLUZA versus an active comparator (oseltamivir) in children aged between one and less than 12 years old with the flu.
“Children need new medicines for the flu because they are at higher risk of developing the flu and more likely to have complications such as breathing problems and pneumonia. These flu complications, which in some cases can be fatal, lead to approximately one million children under five being admitted to the hospital globally every year,” said Sandra Horning, M.D., chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. “As a one-dose oral suspension medicine, XOFLUZA could potentially provide a convenient treatment option for children with the flu, and we look forward to sharing these data with health authorities around the world.”
Subscribe to Outbreak News TV on YouTube
The safety and efficacy of XOFLUZA in children with the flu under the age of one is also being studied in the global Phase III MINISTONE-1 study (NCT03653364). XOFLUZA is the first and only one-dose oral medicine approved to treat the flu and the first new flu medicine with a novel proposed mechanism of action approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in nearly 20 years. XOFLUZA is also the only flu treatment shown to be efficacious in both otherwise healthy people with the flu (CAPSTONE-1) and people at high risk of complications from the flu (CAPSTONE-2), as well as a preventive measure against developing the flu following exposure to an infected household member (BLOCKSTONE).
XOFLUZA is currently approved in several countries, including Japan for the treatment of influenza types A and B in children, adolescents and adults, and in the U.S. for the treatment of acute, uncomplicated influenza in people 12 years of age and older.
Influenza: More effective vaccine begins US trials
H5N1 influenza vaccine, deltaFLU, induced a superior antibody response
Experimental universal influenza vaccine candidate, H1ssF_3928, in human trials
Infectious disease bric-a-bracs: New anti-influenza drugs, Leishmaniasis in Sindh
